1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of jewelry and more particularly to setting precious stones in piece of jewelry to provide enhanced beauty and uniqueness to the appearance of the stones in the jewelry piece.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The following 13 patents and published patent applications are the closest prior art references which are related to the present invention.
1. U.S. Pat. No. 2,141,363 issued to Louis Rigollet and assigned to Rubel Brothers Limited on Dec. 27, 1938 for “Jewelry Setting” (hereafter the “Rigollet Patent”);
2. U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,246 issued to Camille Richards on Mar. 21, 1989 for “Method Of Setting Precious And Semiprecious Stones” (hereafter the “Richards Patent”);
3. U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,601 issued to Christopher Slowinski on Dec. 17, 1991 for “Diamond Setting” (hereafter the “Slowinski Patent”);
4. U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,265 issued to Boaz Ramot on Jun. 23, 1992 for “Invisible Gemstone Setting” (hereafter the “Ramot Patent”);
5. U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,196 issued to John Pollack on Jun. 13, 1995 for “Method Of Mounting Gems Flush To One Another In An Article Of Jewelry, And Articles Of Jewelry Produced By Such Method” (hereafter the “Pollack Patent”);
6. U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,017 issued to Oren Vivat and assigned to Oron Vivat; Alon Vivat on May 28, 1996 for “Jewelry Items With Invisible Gemstone Settings And Methods Of Assembly Therefore” (hereafter the “Vivat Patent”);
7. U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,477 issued to Manny Hainoff and assigned to Nili Jewelry, Corp. on Nov. 25, 1997 for “Invisible Setting Method For Jewelry” (hereafter the “Hainoff Patent”);
8. U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,219 issued to Israel Itzkowitz and assigned to Ambar Diamonds, Inc. on Feb. 3, 1998 for “Invisible Setting For Precious Stones For Jewelry” (hereafter the “Itzkowitz Patent”);
9. U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,552 issued to Paul J. Hoffman and assigned to Michael Anthony Jewelers, Inc. on Sep. 5, 2000 for “Gemstone Setting And Method Of Using” (hereafter the “Hoffman Patent”);
10. U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,912 issued to Nelson Chi-Kai Ho and assigned to China Diamond Production Company Limited on Dec. 17, 2002 for “Stone Setting Methods” (hereafter the “Ho Patent”);
11. U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,765 issued to Robert Hurwitz and assigned to Sandberg & Sikorski Diamond Corp. on Mar. 18, 2003 for “Jewelry Stone Assembly” (hereafter the “Hurwitz Patent”);
12. United States Published Patent Application No. 2003/0056536 to Vivek V. Ubhayakar on Mar. 27, 2003 for “Princess Cut Invisible Stone Setting” (hereafter the “Ubhayakar Published Patent Application”); and
13. U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,275 issued to Daniel R. Steinberg and assigned to Daniel R. Steinberg on Apr. 22, 2003 for “Rounded Gemstone Setting” (hereafter the “Steinberg Patent”).
The Rigollet Patent discloses a jewelry setting, including a cup like member which has two or more oppositely disposed grips or tongues to engage grooves or recesses formed in the gemstone. The cup like member which retains the jewel in this invisible setting manner is applied to the mounting for gems and jewelry by soldering or welding the same to such mountings.
The Richards Patent discloses an invisible setting for stones by forming slight notches at the angles of the cutlet in such a way that the depth of the notches is small and the distance separating the bottom of the two opposite notches is very much greater than the width of the table of the stone. In addition, a metal matrix is used to hold the stones.
The Slowinski Patent discloses a square or princess cut diamond 14 which has a table 38 at the upper end, a girdle 40 and an inverted pyramid-shaped pavilion 42 which defines four facets 44 which converge at a tip 56 at the bottom of the diamond. Notches 46 are cut in the stone with prongs 34 in the side wall extending into the notches to retain the stones in an invisible manner. In general, this Patent discloses the concept of having a princess cut diamond with grooves cut within the girdle portion on at least three faces and having projections extending into the grooves to retain the stone in an invisible manner.
The Ramot Patent also discloses the concept of an invisible gemstone setting. In this case it is close to a princess cut diamond where there are essentially grooves cut in the girdle portion immediately below the girdle portion and having the stones retained by the sidewalls of a mounting with what are referred to as ribs inside the mounting penetrating the grooves. Therefore, the stones appears to be invisibly set.
The Pollack Patent again discloses the concept of having grooves cut within the stone and prongs transversely extending into the grooves to retain the stones in an invisible manner. FIG. 2 shows how the longitudinal channels 22 receive and hold the fully mounted gems 12 in place. Each of the channels 22 is provided with an opposed inwardly directed pair of locking ribs 30. The ribs each seat within a mating longitudinal locking groove 32 along the adjacent side of the associated gems. As best shown in FIG. 5, the locking pins are set within the pavilion so that the stones themselves can have their edges touch and the retaining pins are invisible.
The Vivat Patent has an excellent discussion of the prior art to show what is considered to be known with respect to invisible setting and stones. Specifically, the patent states: “To better illustrate the approach of the prior art, a conventional invisible diamond setting within a ring is now described with reference to FIGS. 1-4. FIG. 1 illustrates a ring 10 with an invisible diamond setting 12 made up of a matrix of several rows and columns of diamonds 14. FIG. 2 illustrates that diamonds 14 are inserted in grooves 16 defined by walls 18 prepared in a gemstone region 20 of ring 10. Grooves 16 are either parallel to the short axis of gemstone region 20 as shown in FIG. 3 or the long axis of gemstone region 20 as shown in FIG. 4. Walls 18 are cut so as to prepare a T-shaped cross bar 22 having prongs 24 for intergaging cut-outs 26 formed beneath girdle 28 of diamonds 14 so as to secure diamonds 14 in invisible diamond setting 12. Grooves 16 preferably extend through the plane of gemstone region 20 such that the tips 30 of diamonds 14 overlie holes 32 for improving the brilliance of diamonds 14.” The prongs are slidably received within the cut channels of the stones and do not penetrate the stones in a transverse direction.
The Haimoff Patent, which is for the concept of an invisible setting, specifically states: “The stones 10 are of specific sizes as designated for each model and are pre-cut by an experienced diamond cutter who cuts grooves 11 of specific size and depth into the stones (see FIG. 7). The stones 10 are then set on opposite sides of the metal (see FIGS. 6b and 6c) by exerting pressure against the sidewalls 12 in such manner that the stones 10 are both now in seated position in the walls 12 (see FIG. 6a) and also fit onto the metal bar 6 (or bars) (see FIG. 7a). In the ring shown in FIG. 6, a groove 11 on only one side of the stones 10 is necessary. The other side of the stones 10 do not need the cut, in this instance, because it is being set in the channel wall 2 on its outside edge. Once the stones 10 are set, the metal bar 6 holds the stones 10 toward the center of the ring and provides a strong support at the center where the two rows of stones 10 meet (see FIGS. 6b, 6c).” In addition, the patent also discloses the method of creating jewelry with this plurality of cut grooves.
The Itzkowitz Patent discloses a diamond having a girdle with oppositely located flattened portions. Each of the flattened portions has a cut out with sloped walls. The girdle preferably has facets at a circumference except at its flattened portion. The diamond is set into a barrel having a ridge member comprising a prong dimension to fit into the respective cutout and to frictionally engage one of the slope walls of the cutout, thereby, rigidly securing the diamond to the barrel. In addition, the innovation of this invention is that the walls are sloped and not horizontal.
The Hoffman Patent is another variation on cutting a groove into the stone for an invisible setting, which states: “A gemstone setting is provided having channels into which grooved gemstones are snapped and secured. Each channel is provided with opposing, flexible prong members extending from the base of the gemstone setting. As the grooved gemstone are snapped into the channels, the prong members flex outwardly as the gemstones are pushed downwardly into the channels, such prong members snapping into engagement with the grooves on the gemstones to securely hold the gemstones within such channels. When the channels of the gemstone setting have been filled with gemstones, the gemstone setting is rendered invisible.” The patent discusses the use of this setting. In numerous gemstones from the disclosure “The gemstone setting of the current invention may be used in various jewelry items. In the preferred embodiment, it is used as an invisible gemstone setting placed within a ring (FIG. 5). Further, the gemstone setting of the current invention may be made as a separate setting from the ring and then inserted or fastened to the ring once the gemstones are secured within the gemstone setting. Alternatively, the gemstone setting may be incorporated within the ring as a unitary piece before the insertion of the stones. Moreover, the same setting can be used for pendants, brooches, earrings, or any other jewelry piece with a setting for stones.”
The Ho Patent discloses a method of invention to produce stone set jewelry including the step of forming at least one affixation groove within the stone to be set in the jewelry. A stone to be set with the present method should have an upper and a lower portion of the stone. In accordance with the invented method the affixation groove should be formed in the lower portion of the stone such that it is hidden from view when the upper portion of the stone is viewed. A heat setting method is disclosed for improving the bond between the pavilion of the stone and the wax model used in the casting process. The method also includes the deposition of a mounting material within the affixation grove by applying a conventional casting method. Finally, any excess deposited mounting material can be removed and the stone affixed to the article of jewelry via the mounting material such that the mounting material of a completed article of jewelry is not visible when the stone is viewed from the upper portion thereof. In addition, new articles of jewelry formed from the methods of producing jewelry are also disclosed.
The Hurwitz Patent discloses a jewelry assembly which creates an appearance of a space between one or more diamonds. Specifically, the patent states: “As best depicted in FIGS. 2-4, stone 17 is invisibly set within window 16 by means of a hidden metal box 23. As is well known in the art, stone 17 comprises a table or top portion 29, a girdle portion 31 which terminates to an outer circumference 32, and a pavilion portion 33 formed below girdle portion 14. In order to invisibly set stone 17 within metal box 23, a plurality of grooves 35 are formed in pavilion portion 33 just below girdle portion 31 of stone 17. Depending upon the specific design, grooves 35 may comprise two pairs of grooves, with the grooves of each pair disposed opposite each other, thereby providing a total of four grooves formed at substantially the same level in pavilion portion 33 of stone 17.”
The Ubhayakar Patent, which is a published patent application, discloses a concept of cutting a channel groove into the stone and having a prong 15 from the side wall extending to retain the stone in an invisible manner.
Finally, the Steinberg Patent discloses a gemstone setting with a rounded gemstone with outer faceted surfaces, each gemstone forming an outwardly contoured or convex gemstone configuration which is invisibly set in flush, surface to surface, mating relation within the setting. A section of rounded gemstone is cut away, leaving a concave inset within and a curved concave inner surface on the gemstone. This concave configuration allows the partially cut away gemstone to mate in flush, surface to surface relation with the convex outer surface of the adjacent gemstone. Grooves within the side facets of the gemstone invisibly set the gemstones in position within supporting housings. The setting of gemstones in this fashion, employing surface to surface flush mating contact, can be used in infinite jewelry designs which employ rounded, curved, edge, contoured or generally convex configured gemstones.
There is a significant need to provide stones of a jewelry piece including diamonds which are set through an invisible stone mounting so that the stones appear to be “floating” in the jewelry piece to significantly improve ornamentation and beauty of the setting.